“I thought there was some improvement made from Saturday, but still not enough. You could see that they — having watched the film, I hope they got a little better with the fundamentals and technique, but we still have a long way to go.”

On sophomore linebacker Shawn Petty:

“I think he’s done a good job. He’s making mistakes but he’s got a pretty good feel for what we’re doing there. Now we’ll be able to see what happens as we put the pads on. So far I’ve been pleased with how he’s picked things up so far. Like I said, he’s got a natural feel for the position, so hopefully he’ll just keep progressing.

“What he had to do is just — I don’t know too many people that could do what he did. He took it all in stride and went out and showed the kind of competitor he was. To go in and do that and not bat an eye, I was very proud of him. Having the chance to be around him, it didn’t surprise me because of how competitive he is and his athletic ability.”

On sophomore running back Brandon Ross:

“We want to try and get him to be an every-down guy. First, second, third down, short yards, goal line — we want him to really be able to do it all. He’s out there running hard. I think he’s playing with a lot of confidence. I think he understands the offense, and with that understanding and the confidence he gained from last year, we expect his production and his play to go to a higher level.”

On sophomore wide receiver Nigel King:

“I think the biggest thing with Nigel is confidence. That was the biggest thing, and that North Carolina game gave him a lot of confidence last year. You see him out there and how he’s carrying himself and handling himself on the field, it’s a big difference from a year ago. It’s just amazing what just a couple things will do to help a guy like that along. It’s good to see because he does have the ability, and now what I think will happen is he’ll continue to work really hard to achieve a level of productivity that his God-given ability will allow him to have.”

On junior defensive back A.J. Hendy:

“I think that’s where he belongs, at safety. Right now him and Sean [Davis] are splitting and we’ll he how that progresses, but he’s got the ability. The biggest thing that we told him is we need to see it out of him physically and to be a better tackler. That was really the only thing holding him back; he’s got the ability and he understands the game, but he’s got to put in the physical part and be a better tackler. He’ll get the opportunity this spring to show that.”

On junior linebacker Matt Robinson:

“He’s doing good. I think he’s understanding what the Sam position is all about and it’s great that we can have him out there getting reps, even if he doesn’t have any contact. Matt’s a smart football player; he picks things up really quickly. I don’t have any issues with him or him not being able to pick things up or adapt to what we want. It’s a better position for him.”